Video shows Georgia football coach holding baptism for players. Now, he’s out as coach

One by one, 20 high school football players sank into a tub of water after practice in Georgia — not to cool off, but to be baptized.

Weeks later, head coach Isaac Ferrell has been removed from his post, but the school denied the baptisms are the reason.

On Oct. 24, the Tattnall County High School football team celebrated the baptisms in a Facebook post that has now been shared nearly 1,800 times.

The event has drawn community support as well as criticism from those who say it violates the separation of church and state.

“Yesterday after practice Coach Ferrell gave the guys the opportunity to be baptized by Pastor Few,” the post reads.

The video shows the players climbing into the tub, as the pastor says “I baptize you in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” and briefly dunks them underwater.

The other players, some in their uniforms, clap and cheer as each player emerges from the water.

“LOVE TO SEE IT!” one person commented on the video. “I so wish we had something like this back in my days at TCHS! What a mighty force/team you would be knowing that you all have a love, respect and dedication to something greater than self!”

Many approved of the baptisms and congratulated the players on their decision.

“Congratulations to you boys this is so awesome,” another person wrote on Facebook. “Praise God and Thank you coaches for leading them in the right direction.”

McClatchy News could not reach Ferrell for comment. The high school directory shows he is also a teacher there.

Ferrell left his previous post as the coach at Windsor Forest in December 2019 to take over at Tattnall County.

Backlash

The event prompted a letter from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, which called the baptisms an act of “school-sponsored religious coercion” and accused the coach of “abusing his position.”

The foundation wrote a letter to the school district requesting an investigation.

“The District must refrain from infusing its football program with religion, and Coach Ferrell cannot be allowed to preach to student athletes or allow a local pastor to preach to and baptize students,” Christopher Line, a staff attorney with the organization, wrote to Tattnall County Superintendent Kristen Waters on Nov. 1.

Ferrell was removed from his position as head coach not long after. However, the school shared a statement with McClatchy News saying the personnel decision resulted from a separate incident that happened about a week and a half after the baptisms.

“The safety and security of our students is paramount to Tattnall County Board of Education,” Waters wrote. “Based on the outcome of an investigation into an incident that occurred Friday night, November 3rd while traveling after the football game, the District decided that it would seek a Head football coach that aligned with the best interests of the students of Tattnall County for the 2024-2025 school year.”

Waters said the district could not comment on other allegations due to ongoing investigations.

Tattnall County High School is in Reidsville, about 200 miles southeast of Atlanta.

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